Having considered, for the year ended 31 December 1992,
the financial report and audited financial statements of the United
Nations Institute for Training and Research and the audited financial
statements of the voluntary funds administered by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, the reports and audit opinions
of the Board of Auditors, as well as the summary of the principal
findings, conclusions and recommendations for remedial action
of the Board,

Noting the steps taken by the executive heads and governing
bodies of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research
and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
to give appropriate consideration and attention to the recommendations
in earlier audit reports, as commented upon by the Board of Auditors
in the annexes to its current reports,

1. Recognizes that the Board of Auditors conducts its
reviews in a comprehensive manner, as stipulated in regulation
12.5 of the Financial Regulations of the United Nations, and expresses
its appreciation to the Board for the action-oriented and concrete
recommendations contained in its reports;

2. Accepts the financial report and audited financial
statements and the audit opinions and reports of the Board of
Auditors regarding the aforementioned organizations;

3. Also accepts the concise summary of principal findings,
conclusions and recommendations for remedial action of the Board
of Auditors;

4. Notes with concern that the Board of Auditors issued
a qualified audit opinion on the financial statements of the United
Nations Institute for Training and Research and, in this connection,
reaffirms the importance of compliance with the Financial Regulations
of the United Nations, especially regulations 4.1 and 13.2;

5. Approves all the recommendations and conclusions
of the Board of Auditors;

6. Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees to implement better financial management systems
that will permit an effective and economic delivery of its programme
and reduce persistent over-obligation of funds.

87th plenary meeting
23 December 1993

B

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 47/211 of 23 December 1992,
and especially paragraphs 9 and 10 thereof,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General
on the implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors
in its report for the period ended 31 December 1991,

1. Recognizes the role of the Board of Auditors in carrying
out comprehensive and financial audits of the United Nations and
its organizations and programmes;

2. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General
on the implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors,
and requests the Board to consider the report when it follows
up on its recommendations in its report to the General Assembly
at its forty-ninth session;

3. Notes with deep concern that, with a few commendable
exceptions, most United Nations organizations and programmes have
taken no steps to address the requests contained in paragraphs
9 and 10 of its resolution 47/211;

4. Urges the executive heads of the International Trade
Centre, the United Nations University, the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the
United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the United
Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Population Fund
and the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation
to comply fully with paragraphs 9 and 10 of its resolution 47/211;

5. Reiterates its request to the executive heads of
the United Nations organizations and programmes to submit reports
on measures taken or to be taken in response to the recommendations
of the Board of Auditors, including timetables for their implementation,
to the General Assembly at its resumed forty-eighth session, through
the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;

6. Requests the executive heads of the United Nations
organizations and programmes, in preparing the above-mentioned
reports, to give particular attention to the recommendations of
the Board of Auditors regarding procurement, the employment of
consultants and property accountability in field missions and,
in this connection, requests the Board, in its audits for the
biennium 1992-1993, to give particular attention to those matters;

7. Requests the Secretary-General and the executive
heads of the United Nations organizations and programmes, at the
same time as the recommendations of the Board of Auditors are
submitted to the General Assembly, through the Advisory Committee
on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, to provide the Assembly
with their responses and to indicate measures that would be taken
to implement these recommendations, with appropriate timetables;

8. Also requests the Secretary-General and the executive
heads of the United Nations organizations and programmes to draw
attention in such reports to the recommendations of the Board
of Auditors, the implementation of which would require action
by the General Assembly.

87th plenary meeting
23 December 1993

C

The General Assembly,

Recalling its decisions 46/445 of 20 December 1991 and
47/449 of 22 December 1992,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General
on accounting standards,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the
Secretary-General;

2. Takes note of the United Nations system accounting
standards contained in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General,
and requests the Secretary-General and the executive heads of
the United Nations organizations and programmes to take those
standards into account in the preparation of their financial statements
for the period ending 31 December 1993;

3. Also takes note of the plans of the organizations
for the application and development of the United Nations system
accounting standards, as reflected in paragraphs 9 and 11 of the
report of the Secretary-General, and requests the Secretary-General
to report thereon to the General Assembly, through the Advisory
Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, at its fifty-first
session.

87th plenary meeting
23 December 1993

D

The General Assembly,

Noting that the United Nations and most of its organizations
and programmes have a two-year financial period, but that members
of the Board of Auditors have a three-year term of office,

Invites the Board of Auditors, in consultation with
the Secretary- General, to report to the General Assembly at its
forty-ninth session, through the Advisory Committee on Administrative
and Budgetary Questions, on the implications of extending the
term of office of members of the Board of Auditors to four or
six years.